Sword Art Online: Chaos Labyrinth Beginning — Chapter 1
Part I: Acumen of Silent Bitterness Five weeks had passed ever since that announcement that SAO had turned into a death game. Already there have been 2000 deaths and the first floor has yet to be cleared. Shioko sighed as she sat up in bed. She got out and got dressed for another day of soloing. Walking outside, she headed to the first floor labyrinth where she will stake out some more monsters. Four days ago, Shioko had obtained a new sword from a monster drop that replaced her initial one, «Anneal Blade». Shioko found that she had an affinity to one-handed swords but she intended to at least try all the weapon categories. Besides the Anneal Blade, she has the «Champion Foil», a rapier. For now, she has more affinity to her one-handed swords than the rapier. Her thoughts wandered around as she stumbled into the labyrinth. She felt a presence to her left and instinctively leaped back. Tch... Three steps in, and I’m already ambushed. She drew her sword and slashed at the monster. She activated a sword skill, an AOE one-hit that has a chance of lowering defense. “«Horizontal»!” Her sword glowed blue and she made a left-to-right slash, lighting up the darkness and decimating the enemies. She sheathed her sword and let out a sigh. “Phew.” A sound rang in the darkness. A window opened up in front of her, saying that she has a new message. She read it. Calling all players! We will hold a meeting about discussing the first floor labyrinth. Diabel’s scouting party has found the boss room! We need people willing to participate in the raid! “Tch. Someone found the boss room before I did...” She turned around and made her way back into the sunlight. ---- The designated place of the meeting was like a sunken amphitheater. The floor of the amphitheater was at least 80 feet lower than the surface. Rings of seats circled its way upwards. She made her way to the 4th row from the top. A handsome blue-haired man cleared his throat. “Eh-hem! Thank you for coming! My name is Diabel and I am the one who discovered the boss room. I received some info from arriving there and some from beta testers. The boss’ name is «Illfang the Kobold Lord» and his minions are «Kobold Sentinels». The boss has 4 health bars and wields a two-handed axe. When his health reaches the first bar, he changes attack patterns, wielding a two-handed sword.” The rant continued but Shioko didn’t really listen as she already knows all of these facts. Her attention returned when the man known as Diabel said, “We’re going to need a raid party! The game only allows a maximum of 67 players to participate in the raid. Don’t ask me why I didn’t create this game. Anyone present here, please start forming parties.” Shioko intended to completely ignore the suggestion when she made the mistake of turning her head to her right. A man of her age sat a few feet away from her. He wore a red hoodie that shielded his face. Shioko scooted over and asked, “You’ve been left out, too?” The boy nodded which prompted her next question. “You want to form a party?” He again nodded and she sent a party request to the boy. The boy accepted and Shioko took note of the boy’s name. His name was Yuurei, purposely spelled with two “u”s instead of a "u" with a macron. Shioko was ready to burst out laughing but she restrained herself. “We should get our equipment ready.” The other boy nodded. The raid was to happen soon that afternoon which gave Shioko a good reason to sort through her equipment. Shioko decided that she will stick with using her one-handed sword. The Anneal Blade shone with mischief. Shioko set an alarm on her clock to wake her up one hour earlier than the promised gathering time for the boss raid. She had to get some extra hours as she had spent the last few days leveling up like a madman. She immediately crashed and her eyes slid shut. The alarm erupted with a loud sound and Shioko shot out of her bed. Now I’m nice and rested. Time to clear the first floor. She leaped out of bed and strapped on her sword. Whistling, she made her way to the labyrinth with the assault team. Yuurei was already there, a few seconds earlier than Shioko. Diabel counted heads, nodded, then led the raid party into the gloom. Monsters kept jumping out of the shadows, randomly attacking the group. The players have grown experienced to the game and they easily dealt with the enemies. In no time, Diabel led them to a stop in front of the boss room door. “I only have one thing to say to everyone here. We shall win! And we shall make it back alive!” A cheer rose, “''Yeaaaaaaaah!!!” The raiding group shoved the doors open and charged in. Immediately, they spotted the boss. It looked like a vague combination of a pig and a boar. It stood on its hind legs. Diabel shouted orders, “Teams A, B and C deal with the Sentinels! Everyone else, focus on the boss!” Shioko took a deep breath and drew her sword. She charged in first and slashed at the boss, lowering its health by a sliver. Her sword strikes were fast, really fast. So fast, most people couldn’t see the path of the blade. She danced around the feet of the boss, slashing at its legs, forcing it to get on its knees. By then, the boss lost 10% of its first HP gauge. “Now! All at once!” she yelled. She charged her sword and shouted, “«Star Quint Prominence»!” Her sword glowed yellow as she made a series of five slashes, tracing the pentagram of Satan. Her last hit pierced the center of the pentagram and made the residual design explode outward, cutting down the boss’ HP by another 12%. Everyone else stood shocked, their mouths hanging open. “Yuurei! Switch!” she shouted. She leapt backwards with Yuurei taking her place. She whispered, “«Over-Radiate».” Everyone else began bombarding the boss with attacks. Shioko swerved to the boss’ rump and used Rage Spike again. She then chained it to «Slant», Horizontal and «Vertical», erasing the boss’ first HP bar. Shioko had to step back as she had exhausted her SP. She returned to her normal attack pattern when the boss stood back up on its feet. Diabel ordered for everyone to back off, while he and the other high-levels knock off some more HP. ''Heh, this man might make for an excellent guild leader someday. Shioko retreated, long enough to use an SP Potion. Her SP went back to max and she charged back into the battle, using Rage Spike to easily close the distance and deal some damage. She returned to her dangerous dance with the boss, weaving in and out of its legs. The boss was learning though, as Shioko barely dodged the axe shooting down at her. She tuck-and-rolled out of the way before using Vertical to stun the boss. She backed off as her health had gone down a tad because of the shockwave from the axe striking the floor. She used «Protection Prayer» and gave herself an HP regeneration buff. She charged in again, this time stunning the boss with «Weapon Bash» before again using Star Quint Prominence. Yuurei had backed off and had used the «Sharp Rage» battle skill, increasing both of their chances of landing critical hits. He stepped forward and whispered, “«Rapid Stab».” On the first hit to land, the two gained an Extra Auto-Attack buff which would help with increasing weapon skill proficiency faster. Nice thinking, Yuurei! The boss approached the end of its second bar. It was getting agitated. The other groups were starting to be pushed in the boss’ direction. Tch, they plan to use a pincer movement? Smart. But we’re smarter! She yelled, “Yuurei! Help the group fighting the sentinels! They plan to trap us in a vice! I got the boss!” Shioko charged in again, this time using «Sonic Leap» to close the gap. She chained it to Rage Spike then Vertical to stun. “Diabel!” she said, “Distract the boss for a second! I need to recharge my SP.” The blue-haired youth nodded and ran towards the boss. Dammit, that SP Regeneration buff ended too quickly. Do I have a better item...? She rummaged through her inventory and found her prize, “Aha!” She used the Grand SP Potion. With this one, I’ll be able to use sword skills nearly nonstop! The problem is that the buff cuts in 3 minutes. We need to take it down in three minutes. She showed three fingers and the blue-haired youth spotted it. He immediately nodded and stunned the boss with Weapon Bash while Shioko tested something she had discovered in the system. She began a chain of sword skills: Sonic Leap, Rage Spike, Slant, Horizontal, Vertical and lastly Star Quint Prominence. Previously, the boss was in the red of its second HP bar. Not anymore. Shioko had cut it down to half of the third HP bar. She then repeated the chain, keeping an eye on her SP and her regeneration buff (her HP regeneration buff ended before she began the first chain). Twice more she used the chain before the buff wore off. She leaped back. Tch... Only got it to the yellow of the last HP gauge... She yelled, “Sorry, Diabel! I couldn’t finish it off!” Part II: Ode to Infinite Madness He replied, “No worries, Shiota! That was very excellent!” He then announced, “This is the final stretch! Keep going, guys!” Shioko stuck her sword into the ground, panting. She stayed there for several seconds, trying to regain her stamina. That was a first... It left me wiped though. I need to watch how much I use that, she thought. It could be deadly if I lost energy in the middle of a boss fight such as this. She looked up to see that the boss yelled aloud. The reason? Its health was in the red. Shioko immediately noticed something was wrong. In the beta test, the monster had used a two-handed sword. Then she noticed that the weapon hanging from its belt wasn’t what she thought. It was a talwar. I’m so stupid! Why would they keep it the same as the beta!? Too late did realization set in. She shouted, “Diabel, watch-” Her shout was cut short as the scream of the blue-haired youth resounded through the boss room. His health was in the green but that one hit depleted his health. Shioko charged and caught him before he hit the floor. She grabbed a health potion and gave it to the man, “Drink.” The man pushed it away, “No. I figured it wouldn’t be the same.” Confused, Shioko raised an eyebrow. Again, the realization set in. “You... you’re a beta tester, too?” The man weakly nodded and coughed out particles, which Shioko assumed was the same as him coughing out blood. “You need to lead them... Shiota, your skill is needed... I was just dumb... I guess I’ll go to the other side and ponder why I made such a dumb decision in the end...” Tears began to form in her eyes. She muttered, “No...” The man smiled one last time before dissolving into particles. It was insulting that his death was so beautiful. On her knees, Shioko sat, her hands shaking. She balled both hands into fists and redrew her sword, which she had sheathed to free her hands for catching Diabel. Shioko gave off a frightening aura, her murderous intent now obvious. She whispered in a steely voice, “Yuurei. We shall finish this.” The other boy, who had also witnessed the death of Diabel along with the other players, nodded. The other players backed off, obviously sensing the aura of an insatiable lust for killing emanating from Shioko. She charged the boss and used the new skill she just unlocked, «Horizontal Square», lowering the boss’ defense before chaining it into a new chain: Rage Spike, Horizontal, Vertical and Star Quint Prominence. Yuurei understood Shioko’s intentions. Together and at the same time, they used Slant and «Streak», depleting the boss’ health to zero. Shioko had purposely timed her sword skill milliseconds after Yuurei’s so that she could get the Last Attack Bonus. Silence spread through the ranks until congratulatory music erupted from nowhere and a sign apparated in front of Shioko, announcing that the first floor had been successfully cleared with a timestamp of 1340, December 2, 2022. A secondary window opened in front of Shioko, awarding her with the Last Attack Bonus. The one who broke the silence was a person named Kibaou. “She... she single-handedly took down the boss... She’s a beta tester! She kept information from us! She’s a cheater as well as a beta tester!” Shioko’s steely voice cut through, “And? What of it?” Her eyes glared back and the other players immediately backed away out of fear. “She’s a beta tester and a cheater! She’s a beater! A beater!” Kibaou yelled, his voice shaking. “A beater...” she thought. “Yes, I like that name. I’m a beater.” She equipped the Last Attack Bonus, the «Coat of Midnight», and strolled to the staircase leading to the second floor. “I’m a beater and if you had sense, you would stay away from me.” Someone apparently didn’t have much sense. Yuurei chased after her. “Hey! Why?” Yuurei also pulled down his hood, revealing his face for the first time. He had blond hair with handsome features, almost feminine. “I’m sorry,” she replied kindly, “Let us separate here.” Shioko opened a window and hit the “Disband Party” button. Smiling one last time, she turned around and made her way through the massive doorway that led to the second floor.